


Smiling Faces Sometimes

by I_have_a_Mycroft_of_my_very_own



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Personification of betrayal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 12:35:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13458390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_have_a_Mycroft_of_my_very_own/pseuds/I_have_a_Mycroft_of_my_very_own
Summary: For there to have been betrayal, there would have to have been trust first.~Suzanne CollinsIt is easier to forgive an enemy, than to forgive a friend.~William Blake





	Smiling Faces Sometimes

**Author's Note:**

> Tarpeia is mentioned in Roman Mythology as betraying the City of Rome to the Sabines and dying for her betrayal. In this fic, she's depicted as the Roman Goddess of Betrayal.

_Beware, beware of the handshake_  
_That hides the snake._  
_I'm telling you beware._  
_Beware of the pat on the back,_  
_It just might hold you back._  
_Jealousy._  
_Misery._  
_Envy._  
_~The Undisputed Truth, Smiling Faces Sometimes_

* * *

 

Betrayal. He remembers meeting her when he is 5 and he learns for the first time that his father will never love him, never love him the way he loves ‘Steve’. Steve who is like the shadow hovering above him his entire damn life, long after Howard himself is gone. Steve who is ‘the son I never had’.

Betrayal and he reacquaint themselves with one another when Tony is 15 and his father and his mother are dead. Killed in a crash. Killed by Howard’s drunkenness. Killed by the fates.

Betrayal and Tony have a one-night stand when Tony is 21, and Edwin dies in a lab explosion, caused by one of Tony’s own experiments. A few years later, when his A.I is created, he can’t think of anything better to name him than J.A.R.V.I.S.

Betrayal and Tony meet up together when he’s lying in the sand, metal from a missile- that he himself lovingly crafted into shape- embedded in his chest. For a few horrifying minutes, he thinks ‘Stark’ will be the last thing he ever sees.

Betrayal and Tony get back together in his own home as the minutes of his life slowly tick away. Edwin never trusted Obi, it should have been all the information he’d ever needed.

Betrayal haunts Tony’s life daily when the thing that is keeping him alive is the reason he is dying. They surprisingly get along like a house on fire.

Betrayal and Tony hook up casually and frequently over the years until Betrayal tracks him down to Siberia, and there she destroys him.

* * *

_“That shield isn’t yours. You don’t deserve it. My father made that shield.” Tony exclaims, as betrayal caresses his face, fusses at the breaks in his armour, frowns over the blood leaking on the ground._

Betrayal is the only one keeping him company when he thinks he’s going to die alone and trapped in Siberia. She keeps up a running commentary of the betrayals happening all over the world, all over the universe as it is known to her. As he falls into unconsciousness, he feels her lips upon his own, and then her voice in his ear.

_“If you survive this, you will not let them destroy you again. Once bitten, twice shy.” And the darkness swallows him._

* * *

After Avenger Tower has been restored to Stark Tower, and all the things belonging to his former 'team' have been removed, Betrayal moves her ass in, and he figures she’s the only one yet to _actually_ betray him, so he lets her. Friday thinks she’s the greatest thing since her Creator.

* * *

They’re on date number three when Tony finally learns her name is Tarpeia, and she is the Roman Goddess of Betrayal. Tony asks why she’s been following him his entire life, she shrugs her shoulders and is silent in thought for a very long time.

“I see all betrayals, every betrayal as they are meant to occur, as they will occur, as they _have_ occurred. The fates planned your life millions of years ago, before your ancestors could even create fire, let alone new elements or suits of armour. In a way, I’ve been waiting for you for millions of years. Waiting for the one written throughout the stars as the Man of Iron, the Merchant of Death. Your story, _our_ story has been told in the stars for millions of years. I saw how _our_ story’s combined, interwove, and I knew one day I would find you.”

* * *

With Tarpeia at his side, Tony turns his back on Shield, the Avengers, on being a _‘hero’,_ He goes back to being an engineer, an inventor, an entrepreneur. Iron Man still flies the skies, but he does so solo, or with his Lady Love, there is no in-between.

* * *

 

_Your enemy won't do you no harm,_  
_Cause you'll know where he's coming from._  
_Don't let the handshake and the smile fool you,_  
_Take my advice, I'm only trying to school you.  
~The Undisputed Truth, Smiling Faces Sometimes_


End file.
